Bird Valley

Among the many residents of Bird Valley, you'll find two of the most popular birds at the Zoo—penguins and flamingos. If you're having a hard time imagining penguins enjoying a Philadelphia summer, think about this: Most penguins don't live in cold places like Antarctica. Humboldt penguins like those found at the Zoo are native to the coasts of Chile and Peru, where temperatures are similar to Philadelphia. You'll find the penguin pool at the west end of Bird Valley behind the Reptile Exercise Yard.

Standing at the Caribbean flamingo exhibit, you'll get a real feel for the tropics. Believe it or not, four generations are represented in our flamingo flock. You may not be able to use age to tell them apart, but you can easily tell the males from the females. Males have a band on their right leg, and females have a band on their left leg. This simple clue works for all the resident birds you'll see here at the Zoo. For the penguins, look for a wing band instead of a leg band. The flamingo exhibit is at the east end of Bird Valley, across from Bear Country.